Hello ICE Grand Finale

News date: December 10, 2019

Budimex ended the first edition of the ‘Hello ICE’ programme with town safety, a first aid lesson, and a training session with the programme ambassador – Sebastian Mila. As part of the programme, primary school students learned about road safety for nearly half a year. The grand finale took place at No 6 Primary School in Gdynia on 10 December.

The statistics regarding the first edition of Hello ICE – the new version of the ‘Domofon ICE’ programme, which has been running since 2009 – are quite impressive. Nearly 300 dangerous places around schools were marked on the programme map, more than 1000 high-visibility accessories were handed out, and 8 safety lessons for children were held. The Grand Finale was fun, exciting and full of learning opportunities ­– an inherent element of HELLO ICE.

“We know that starting road safety education from an early age is very important, so we decided to refresh our existing programme and develop it further. The past five months have clearly shown that both the goal and the tools selected to attain it are correct. Therefore, we will continue the programme to educate even more children on safe behaviour – both on and off the road. In addition, we use an interactive map to identify dangerous places near schools throughout Poland so that we can draw the attention of local authorities to this problem and eliminate it altogether in the future”, said Katarzyna Wójcik, Communication Expert at Budimex.

Budi's team had a lot of fun

The Grand Finale was a very exciting day. The event was kicked off by Budi the Tiger, who was helping primary school students at a pedestrian crossing near their school in Gdynia from the very morning. Such a beginning of this day was a pleasant surprise for everyone. Afterwards, the children took part in a special showcase, during which firefighters displayed one of their fire engines with all of its equipment and explained to the children how to behave in case of an accident. Budimex engineers also took part in this event to introduce the students to construction site safety rules.

The children then had a chance to use their newly-acquired knowledge in practice by visiting four special zones, dedicated to sport, fun, education and competition, respectively. The students consolidated the first aid rules at the plushie hospital and learned about road signs, rules for creating emergency corridors and dealing with dangerous situations they may encounter on the road. At the end of the event, students received a safety booklet containing the 10 most important rules of road traffic, as well as the key element of the programme ­– reflective ICE cards. Not only can these cards increase the children’s visibility while on the road, but they also have empty spaces where their caretakers’ contact details can be entered.

Meeting Sebastian Mila – a former member of the Polish National Football Team and the programme ambassador – was an equally exciting moment for the students. As such, a sports competition simply had to be a part of the grand finale of HELLO ICE.

“The fact that there are dedicated programmes aimed at teaching children the most important rules of road safety in such a friendly way is truly encouraging. For us, parents, our children’s safety is a vital thing, so I am glad that I had a chance to support the HELLO ICE project. I believe that today's finale was a valuable lesson for the students – one that they will remember forever”, said Sebastian Mila, the Hello ICE programme ambassador.

Five months of A-grade activities

In total, Budimex organised 8 safety lessons during the 5-month-long course of the programme. Additionally, downloadable lesson plans for teachers, as well as safety quizzes and riddles for parents and children were created, both of which are available at www.helloice.pl. An interactive map allowing anyone to mark dangerous places near schools is now live as well. It will be used to develop the ‘White Safety Book’ containing recommendations on how to eliminate black spots in which accidents are prone to occur. The map already includes nearly 300 such spots throughout Poland.

More attractions coming soon

The first edition of Hello Ice was a major success, which clearly shows just how important the issue that the programme tackles truly is. The HELLO ICE! (In Case of Emergency) project is directed to primary school students from grades 1-3. Its aim is to expand their knowledge on road safety, especially regarding their way to and from school. A key part of the campaign is an interactive map which anyone can use to mark dangerous places that students have to cross on their way to school, as well as educational materials for teachers, parents and children posted on the programme website.

The Hello ICE programme was awarded the honorary patronage of the Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister of National Education.